Several Swaim Hardware employees are being hailed as heroes after wrestling a man who pulled an “AR-type gun” on the business owner on Saturday.
However, the threat didn’t end there after police discovered a van with several items that could not be identified, including an electronic device that was “beeping.”
Around 1:31 p.m. on Saturday, the Paris Police Department received a man with a gun call at a store in the 200 block of 1st St. SW.
Officers arrived in “less than thirty seconds” and took the suspect, who had been tackled by some employees of the business, into custody.
According to witnesses, the suspect, later identified as Jesse James Thompson, had approached employees of a store in the 200 block of 1st St SW, asking for the proprietor of the business.
“Witnesses stated that Thompson raised an AR-type gun toward the business owner, at which time some employees tackled Thompson and took control of the weapon,” said Paris PD.
They also stated that, during the struggle, the suspect attempted to pull a semi-automatic handgun from within his clothing, which the employees also wrestled from the suspect.
Upon arrival, officers determined the scene to be secure but closed the area around the store as a precaution.
After talking to witnesses, officers determined that Thompson had driven to the business in a rented van.
“Officers could not safely identify some items observed in the vehicle, including an electronic device that was beeping, and requested assistance from the Plano Police Department Bomb Squad.”
The secure area was expanded to include approximately two city blocks with the help of Paris Fire and EMS departments, Lamar County Sheriff Deputies, and Texas DPS officers.
“Five members of the Plano bomb squad arrived at 4:10 p.m. and determined the items of concern were not likely to be explosive but destroyed some of the items on-site as a precaution.”
Police located several additional weapons, ammunition, a large sum of cash, and other items in the van.
Thompson was arrested and transported to the Paris Police Dept. and charged with multiple felonies.
Police cleared the scene at 7:41 p.m., and the wrecker transported the rental van to the Paris Police Department for further processing.
The investigation remains active, and police will not release any additional information at this time.
The names of the employees hailed as heroes had not been released at this time.